September 30, 2011
Well, it's over. 30 ballparks. 37 MLB games. Before I left, I gave my predictions on what would happen in terms of mileage, game stats, and more:
S T A T I S T I C S & P R E D I C T I O N S
MLB Games
37
31 was the original plan. I ended up catching an extra six games in San Francisco.
Days
86
I originally posted 85. I simply miscounted. You could argue the number is higher because I didn't actually go home until September 28th.
Driving Miles
17,201.2
18,735 was the estimate from the beginning. I overestimated to make sure I budgeted enough money. I budgeted $4.50 per gallon and 17 miles per gallon. Luckily, both were grossly over estimated. I only spent about 60% of my gas money:)
Estimated Gallons of Gas
905
1,102 was the budget. This will stay an estimate as I'm not adding up how many gallons of gas I actually bought. It's irrelevant.
Hot Dogs
"Too Many"
30 was the plan...one for each park. Some places I had 2 dogs. There was also the Superdawg and Dune Dog I went to. The actual number was probably closer to 40...or more. Here's to your health!
Nights Under the Stars
2
14 was the plan. Ouch. Got sick once and hurt my ankle to screw up a big chunk of the days.
States
39 + DC + Ontario
I originally thought 35 states. The number changed when I decided to jog over to Yellowstone. I also squeezed in Oklahoma, too.
Border Crossings
2
Into Canada and back to the U.S.A. I thought about crossing into Mexico since I was so close down in San Diego but decided it wasn't worth the time.
Crystal Light Singles
450
I have no idea how many I had, but it wasn't that many. I have a lot leftover! They will get used.
Hours of Car Talk Podcast
48
I only listed to about 7 or 8 episodes of Car Talk. I was stuck on Handel.
Hours of Handel on the Law Podcast
120
And I listed to every single hour...and then some. I'm almost through the month of August. I've also been listening to the Handel on the News podcast.
Hours of Board Review Lecture
36
Didn't get through all 36 hours, but who cares? I passed!
State I Spent The Most Time In
California...19 days
Originally, I would have had only 13 days here and 14 days in New York and Pennsylvania. But, I went back to see the Giants for 6 days.
State I Spent the Least Time In
Kentucky (less than an hour)
Maryland was my original guess, but I actually ended up staying the night there.
Cheapest Ticket
$21
Rogers Centre, Toronto
Best Bargain
$25 to see the Red Sox/Yankees @ Fenway
Still a bargain! Plus, since those games are SO LONG, it’s the lowest price per minute of baseball anywhere.
Park I Couldn't Wait to See
AT&T Park, San Francisco
And I went back!
I only counted the 30 originally planned visits to the parks when it came to the stats below, not the extra games or the All-Star Game.
Runs
Prediction: 249
Actual: 277
There were a couple high scoring games that took care of this. How did I come up with my predictions? It wasn't rocket science. While I was getting my oil changed just before the trip, I just looked at the MLB stats for the year and got the per game averages and multiplied that number by 30. I then rounded up or down, depending on my mood at the time.
Hits
Prediction: 512
Actual: 524
I was only 2.3% off. That's an 'A'!
Errors
Prediction: 36
Actual: 37
If the Cardinals had not made an error in the last game, I would have been right on...
Home Runs
Prediction: 65
Actual: 73
A lot of long balls!
Doubles
Prediction: 101
Actual: 114
There was that one game where there were like 11 double. That took care of this!
Triples
Prediction: 10
Actual: 11
Not bad, not bad.
Sacrifices (Hits & Flies)
Prediction: 31
Actual: 33
Again, not bad.
Strikeouts
Prediction: 415
Actual: 458
Saw some pretty good pitchers. I'm compiling a list of ALL the players I saw on the trip. You'll see it soon enough.
Walks
Prediction: 189
Actual: 189
Close enough...
Home Team Wins
Prediction: 17
Actual: 19
Complete Games
Prediction: 1
Actual: 1
Complete games are a complete rarity nowadays. The one I did see involved the pitcher only going 8 innings, and he lost the game!
Shutouts
Prediction: 2
Actual: 2
Saves
Prediction: 15
Actual: 18
Blown Saves
Prediction: 7
Actual: 9
Blown saves can be a good thing or a bad thing. When they happen against your team, it is probably the worst feeling in baseball. When they happen in your favor, it's the next best thing to a walkoff. What's even better (or worse) is when it's a blown save and a walkoff!
Balks
Prediction: 2
Actual: 2
Wild Pitches
Prediction: 19
Actual: 10
No clue what happened here. Good pitchers? Good catchers?
Hit Batters
Prediction: 18
Actual: 19
Walk-offs
Prediction: 2
Actual: 2
Still not happy about one of them.
Stolen Bases
Prediction: 40
Actual: 34
Caught Stealing
Prediction: 15
Actual: 14
Ejections
Prediction: 4
Actual: 3
Two were Yankee coaches.
Smallest Crowd
11,617
Oriole Park at Camden Yards, Baltimore
September 1st, Toronto v. Baltimore
I predicted Sun Life Stadium would have the smallest crowd. It wasn't even close. Maybe because it was close to the end of the season there, and they won't be back at Sun Life next year.
Largest Crowd
47,744
Yankee Stadium, New York
September 3rd, Toronto v. New York
I predicted Citizens Bank Ballpark. Yankee Stadium is just too big!
I ranked all the stadiums and gave a top 5 in several other categories. The reviews are linked to the right of the blog.
The Stadium
1. PETCO Park, San Diego
2. AT&T Park, San Francisco
3. Busch Stadium, Saint Louis
4. Fenway Park, Boston
5. Target Field, Minneapolis
6. Comerica Park, Detroit
7. Yankee Stadium, New York
8. Wrigley Field, Chicago
9. Safeco Field, Seattle
10. PNC Park, Pittsburgh
11. Oriole Park at Camden Yards, Baltimore
12. Minute Maid Park, Houston
13. Chase Field, Phoenix
14. Progressive Field, Cleveland
15. Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia
16. Citi Field, New York
17. Miller Park, Milwaukee
18. Coors Field, Denver
19. Great American Ball Park, Cincinnati
20. Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, Arlington
22. Nationals Park, Washington, D.C.
22. U.S. Cellular Field, Chicago
23. Turner Field, Atlanta
24. Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City
25. Rogers Centre, Toronto
26. Tropicana Field, Saint Petersburg
27. Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles
28. Angel Stadium of Anaheim, Anaheim
29. Sun Life Stadium, Miami Gardens
30. The Coliseum, Oakland
The Atmosphere
1. Busch Stadium, Saint Louis
2. AT&T Park, San Francisco
3. Fenway Park, Boston
4. Target Field, Minneapolis
5. PETCO Park, San Diego
The Crowd
1. Busch Stadium, Saint Louis
2. AT&T Park, San Francisco
3. Fenway Park, Boston
4. Target Field, Minneapolis
5. Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia
The Scorecard
1. Target Field, Minneapolis
2. Comerica Park, Detroit
3. AT&T Park, San Francisco
4. Citizens Bank Ballpark, Philadelphia
5. Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, Arlington
The Hot Dog
1. Coors Field, Denver
2. Busch Stadium, Saint Louis
3. AT&T Park, San Francisco
4. Progressive Field, Cleveland
5. Yankee Stadium, New York
The Broadcasters
1. Busch Stadium, Saint Louis
2. Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles
3. AT&T Park, San Francisco
4. Miller Park, Milwaukee
5. Target Field, Minneapolis
I decided to come up with an Overall Ranking for all 30 parks. Since I ranked all stadiums, the #1 stadium gets 30 points, the #2 gets 29, all the way to #30 getting 1 point. If a stadium was in any of the other Top 5 rankings above, they got additional points...5 for first, 4 for second, and so on. Here are the final results:
1. Busch Stadium, Saint Louis
2. AT&T Park, San Francisco
3. Fenway Park, Boston
4(T). PETCO Park, San Diego
4(T). Target Field, Minneapolis
6. Comerica Park, Detroit
7. Yankee Stadium, New York
8. Wrigley Field, Chicago
9. Safeco Field, Seattle
10. PNC Park, Pittsburgh
11. Oriole Park at Camden Yards, Baltimore
12 (T). Minute Maid Park, Houston
12(T). Progressive Field, Cleveland
12(T). Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia
15. Chase Field, Phoenix
16. Coors Field, Denver
17. Miller Park, Milwaukee
18. Citi Field, New York
19(T). Great American Ball Park, Cincinnati
19(T). Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, Arlington
21. Nationals Park, Washington, D.C.
22. U.S. Cellular Field, Chicago
23. Turner Field, Atlanta
24. Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City
25. Rogers Centre, Toronto
26. Tropicana Field, Saint Petersburg
27. Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles
28. Angel Stadium of Anaheim, Anaheim
29. Sun Life Stadium, Miami Gardens
30. The Coliseum, Oakland
So, what does all that mean? Not much, but I think you could use it to plan a trip! Maybe you don't have time to go to all 30 parks but want to hit up a few. Pick the top 5 and go for it...
Now, where does this blog go from here. I'm not 100% sure. My original plan was to just stop when the trip was over, but I'm not going to. I'm going to keep it going as a baseball-related blog. I'll go back to doing my everyday junk on Facebook (CLICK HERE for my page), but I'll keep talkin' baseball on the blog. Hopefully, it will involve Albert Pujols and the Cardinals, future endeavors to more parks...new MLB parks, minor league parks...whatever I can come up with.
I’ll also use this opportunity to announce my new goal:
To bring Little League to Conway. I’m giving myself 10 years. It’d be nice if it’d happen sooner, but I hardly know where to start.
THAT'S ALL FOR NOW.
"SO LONG FROM BEAUTIFUL, DOWNTOWN ST. LOUIS."
[Disclaimer: I’m not really in St. Louis at this time. I was when I wrote that line, though.]
I almost forgot...
GO CARDINALS! 2011 N.L. WILD CARD WINNERS!
